A Completely Clouded Future
by FlightOfFancy3
Summary: This is the story of Isabelle, an American teen who is tardily accepted to Hogwarts because of her ability to see the future. Students and staff alike discover wonders within her and she discovers something too: Draco Malfoy's unconditional love for her.
1. Slytherin

**Prologue:**

_"I am truly very sorry for my tardiness with your letter," the man in the half-moon glasses tells me. "But whenever you are ready, I will take you away from here and to Hogwarts."_

I rub my aching head, cursing to myself. _Why can't that old man find me already? _He should have arrived with my acceptance letter four years ago. I have lived in this household for far too long with my head pain and no help to have to wait any longer. I moan in discomfort as horridly familiar purple and green kaleidoscope patterns flash across my consciousness. After a split-second of blackness-

_His white-blonde hair seems to almost glow in the dim light. His grey eyes glare at me as if I am not worthy of even being in his presence. Pulling my own eyes away from his powerful gaze, I scurry away without looking back._

"There you are again, Blonde Boy," I mutter to myself with contempt. I am sick of seeing his life so many times a day. I've seen him bully his 'friends' and enemies, seen his arrogant, ominous smirks. I know his family is filthy rich, and he lets everyone know that his father has impossible amounts of social power. Yet I still don't know his name.

Trying to forget the way the Blonde Boy looked at me in the vision, I pour myself a bowl of slightly stale cereal for dinner. No bills have been paid since at least two months ago so the power has been out for awhile; the milk had gone sour in the warm fridge. Still ravenous, I eat up the last bruised apple from the fridge. My hunger makes my hate toward the Blonde Boy even more potent. _Why do the worst people have the best luck?_

I don't bother to lock the house when I leave. I take a walk through the woods, stopping to check the mail. More bills, reminders that the bills haven't been paid, random magazine subscriptions...nothing exciting. I leave it all in the mailbox and head back to the house. Just as I'm walking up to the doorstep I hear someone call me.

"Isabelle?" It is the voice of an elderly man. _The_ elderly man. I slowly turn around to see him, dressed in deep purple robes. Beneath his crooked nose and half-moon glasses, he is smiling. "Isabelle, I am Albus Dumbledore." Suddenly a letter- _the _letter- is thrust into my hand. I don't even open the envelope

"Just get me to that boarding school already. I've been waiting almost five years to get out of this freaking place!"

Dumbledore gives me one of those _I'm so, so sorry_ looks. I slam and lock the door, guessing what he was going to say, and finally reading the letter.

"_Dear Isabelle _blah blah blah_, you've been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_...blah blah blah...blah blah blah..._wand, cauldron_, blah blah..._Unfortunately we will not be able to accommodate you until September the first next year. Hope to see you then, _blah blah blah..."

I scream and cry until my throat is raw. I can't handle another year here.

**One:**

_They are all dressed in black robes, ominous silver masks covering their faces._

_Stop it! _I think. _Not now!_

_One removes his mask, dropping to his knees in front of a taller being, also in a black garb._

I fight to keep my eyes open.

_"My Lord, please..." His eyes are frightened and desperate._

I know the grubby hat on my head can read every thought in my mind. This isn't what should be happening now!

_"...I have no patience left," a cold, high-pitched voice answers. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"_

I can't help but to let a small whimper escape me, a grimace glued to my face. The lining of my brain feels as though acid is burning it. I open my eyes once the pain has dulled to mere agony. Now instead of the inside my head burning, its the outside. My cheeks flush as red as it gets, seeing the entire student body staring at me. I look up at the ugly hat and will it to make its decision before the pain in my head swells again.

"SLYTHERIN!" The hat bellows. I flinch at the volume of its voice. The professor with the severe expression and square glasses takes the Sorting Hat off my head and directs me toward a long table full of students with green ties.

_Wait._

_ Slytherin? It put me in Slytherin?_

The first person my eyes focus in on is none other than the Blonde Boy. The last thing I want to do is sit next to him, though there is an open seat. I groan frustratedly as a girl sitting across the table from him beckons toward me. I reluctantly sit beside her.

"My name is Pansy," she says. "I'm going to be your roommate! I'll teach you everything you need to know, since this is your first year here and my fifth."

I can't pay attention any longer, even after just that. I focus on my food and trying to ignore the Blonde Boy right across from me. He does a much better job ignoring me than I do ignoring him. I can't help but to let my eyes flit to him every now and then. His face is even paler in real life, his hair even blonder. An ostentatious silver ring with a green stone in it circles a long finger on his right hand. Everyone surrounding him (except me) is roaring with laughter at something his friend is saying, but the Blonde Boy's grey eyes remain intense, his mouth a haughty smirk.

Professor Dumbledore ends supper with a short speech and sends us to our dormitories with a super British _pip pip_ that makes me giggle. I walk with Pansy and the rest of the Slytherins down five long flights of stairs to the dark dungeons. I shiver, the deep cold of the corridor sinking straight through my bones. Soon we reach a dead end, a stone wall. The prefect (as Pansy called him) at the head of the large group says a weird word to the wall- I think it was "Pureblood"- and the stones open up and we all flood inside. The room is brightly lit, despite the lack of windows. A blue-green fire burns in the fireplace. Comfortable black leather couches and armchairs are set up in casual circles around the large room. Once we are all inside, the prefect tells us which staircase leads to the girls and which leads to the boys dorms. I follow Pansy up to our dorm. It isn't too bad inside. Two beds made of dark wood each have a half of the room. The floor is even darker than the beds, a thick green rug covering most of it. Pansy points to the bed farthest from the door.

"That one's yours," she said. I could see a familiar trunk full of my clothing at the end of the bed.

"Okay." I sit on the bed, the green bedding silky. Pansy stretches out on her bed. An awkward silence ensues while neither of us can think of anything to say. Head pain comes on with the purple/green kaleidoscopic patterns-

_All I know is agonizing pain. A pale, snake-like face watches me with evil satisfaction._

It was quick, but impossible to hide. I know I wince every time a vision comes on.

"What's wrong?" Pansy asks curiously. I shake off the question with an _I'm okay, _though my eyesight swims. Pansy shrugs and starts spewing information that I apparently 'need to know' to survive as a Slytherin. _No friendships with Gryffindors, no helping Gryffindors out, no rooting for the Gryffindor Quidditch team _(or, apparently any team other than Slytherin)_._ Then she goes on to explain Quidditch. I zone out until she starts talking about the players on the Slytherin Quidditch team.

"…-foy, that really blonde, kind of albino, yet super attractive guy is the Slytherin Seeker."

"Wait, what's his name again?"

"Draco Malfoy."

I can't help but let a giggle escape.

"That's probably the worst name I've ever heard..." I keep laughing.

Pansy sighs. "I suppose." She seems offended by my laughter and coldly suggests that its time for bed.

"Er...I'm going to go down to the common room for a bit. 'Night..."

I stop on the last stair heading toward the common room as I see a white-blonde head above the back of the black couch. I start turning back but-

_Too late_. Draco has already heard me on the stairs. He turns around, his grey eyes staring straight into my green ones.

"H-hi." I say.

"Hi."

I feel sheepish all of a sudden, stressed over what the hell I'm supposed to say to someone like this. I never before realized just how attractive I find the strong, quiet type. His voice is enthralling, and I rack my brain for something to say to get him talking.

"So... Tell me about yourself," I say stupidly. A tiny, not-very-practiced-with-society part of my head told me that that comment might lead to a long conversation.

"Er... No thank you." I feel my face burning at his answer. _God damn it! I wouldn't feel this way around any American guy! Its the accent! And the eyes...and the rest of the face..._

"Okay..." I tentatively sit at the opposite end of the couch he is on. I stare dazedly into the fire, glancing sidelong at Draco every few minutes. "Um... Why are you down here so late?"

Draco smirks at me. "I have a late bedtime. I think it might be past yours by now though." The glint in his eye is not unkind as he sends me on my way.

Slytherin suddenly doesn't seem so bad as I fall asleep in my new green T-shirt with a snake adorning the front.

My clock tells me when I wake up (not literally, though I wouldn't put it past the thing) that it's only five AM. No need to get out of bed just yet. I roll onto my side and take in the surroundings of my new home in the dim light. I look up at the green, round, unlit lantern hanging from the ceiling and wish I knew a spell to turn it on. I cautiously pick up my long black wand off the bedside table. I realize that I have not once used my magic since I got this thing! _What was that spell Pansy used to turn on the lamp earlier? Lightos? Brighto? LUMOS._

"_Lumos_!" I whisper, pointing my wand at the lamp. I feel (and see!) an electric shock pulse through my right hand and gasp, the wand clattering to the floor. Pansy grunts in her sleep and rolls onto her stomach. I look at my hand as if it is some sort of alien. _What did you just do, Hand? Isn't the magic supposed to come from the freaking wand?_ It feels a little sore. I flex my fingers, then make a fist, unnerved. _I hope magic doesn't always feel like this. I might not have hands after awhile_.

Much more awake than a teenage girl should be at such an ungodly hour, I head toward the bathroom, expecting a simple light switch, but no such Muggle things can be found.

"PANSY!_"_ I eventually shout, frustrated that I can't even turn on the lights in this place.

"What?" Pansy is clearly not a morning person, not that I expected her to be.

"Turn on the lights so I can take a shower!"

Pansy sighs in a _wow you are so stupid_ sort of way, then mutters the _Lumos_ spell, pointing her wand at the ceiling. Of course the lights turn on. I thank her as politely as I can (rather impolitely) then attempt to turn on the shower. I eventually get it to the temperature I want and shower with the little sample bottles of shampoo and conditioner that the school provided. Once I am smelling and feeling cleaner, I dress in my Slytherin uniform, grab a novel that I had packed into my trunk and head down to the common room. As I expected, it is deserted. I happily curl up in an armchair and read.


	2. The Sight

**Two:**

I don't realize just how much time has passed until students start flooding down from the dorms and head off to breakfast. Pansy trots down the stairs in a uniform matching mine and drags me by the wrist to join her big group of friends. Draco nods a good morning to me from around four other people. I grin back, too mesmerized by...well, his _entire face_ to do anything more attractive. I blush slightly as he smirks to himself, looking away.

The beginning of breakfast is spent joking about Harry Potter, then explaining who the heck Harry Potter is to me (and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named as well). I make myself look as unimpressed as possible, but truly that kid must be a superhero to survive a killing curse. Toward the end of breakfast time, the schedules of our days are passed out. I giggle to myself at the way all my British peers pronounce schedule with a 'shhh' sound.

Draco smirks at me quietly, handing me a piece of paper with all my classes listed.

"Hm," I mutter, reading the list of my classes. Divination was listed as first period. "Er, what is Divination…?"

Pansy laughs in a slightly ominous way, leaving her place at the Slytherin table and gesturing I do the same. I grab my bag and stand.

"What is Divination?" My voice gets shrill with annoyance and- I'll admit it- a touch of fear. Pansy giggles.

"Divination is a horrible class where our nutter of a teacher tells us how to 'see the future'." Pansy giggles again. I release a sigh of relief. "The most difficult part is the climb up there!"

Boy was she right. I am huffing and puffing with a stitch in my side by the time we finish the last flight of stairs.

"This…is….ridiculous!" I wheeze, looking for the classroom door. Pansy points to a ladder at the end of the short hall. I groan, hefting my bag full of heavy schoolbooks.

"After you," Pansy pants, waving to four guys in our year coming up the stairs, Draco among them. (I vaguely remember Pansy _mentioning_ the names of the other three, but not the names themselves.) I climb the ladder as quickly as possible.

I sit next to Pansy at a small round table with a crystal ball in the middle, Draco joining us, the other three of the foursome at a table nearby. I jump as some sort of creature stands up from an armchair in front of the hearth. Huge, magnified eyes stare at me from a strange mound of shawls.

"IIIIIII ammmmmmmm Professorrrrrr Sybilllllllll Trelawwwwnyyyyyyy, myyyyy dearrrrrrrrrrr," the mound of fabric says dramatically. I look at Draco and Pansy for a translation. Pansy whispers in my ear that the mound of shawls with big eyes is Professor Trelawny, the Divination teacher.

"My name is Isabelle," I say cautiously to Trelawny. "I'm new this year…"

"OH! I know my dear. I foresaw it in your future," Trelawny says in a slightly sketchy way.

"Oh. Alright." I choose to act like this is completely normal, which, I fear, it might be in this class. I hear Draco smirk at me from across the table. Professor Trelawny nods and retreats back to her armchair.

"Today," she says so quietly that we all have to strain to hear her, "we shall be crystal gazing. Everyone please take turns looking into the crystal Orbs on your tables. Clockwise, if you please… Better luck, you know."

Pansy starts off our table, glaring into the cloudy glass ball. "I see nothing…"

"You sure?" Draco asks in a taunting drawl.

"Yes, _Draco_, I'm sure." She shoves the crystal ball toward me. I stare dazedly into the Orb, looking for something in the future.

"I see…. A manor. There's a gate at the front…it's talking to me." I am telling the complete truth, and I see Draco watching me, mildly interested. "It's gone now, though." I look up at Draco and Pansy and see Trelawny watching me as well.

"You," Trelawny whispers ominously. "You have….the _Sight!_"

I blink. "Okay. Thank you...?"

"You are very welcome, my dear."

As soon as we are out of the Divination classroom, Pansy bursts out laughing, while Draco's face is formed into his sneaky little smirk.

"I don't quite understand what was so funny…." I tell them quietly.

"Pansy is laughing because Trelawny thinks you can see the future."

"Oh… Is that so impossible?"

Draco seems to catch the defensive tone in my voice, his grey eyes narrowing. "Are you saying that you _can_ see the future?" He glances at Pansy, who looks shocked.

Somehow I can't manage to answer. _How can I lie to a face like that? He's finally interested in _something_ about me. But how can I trust this rich, bullying bastard either? I've seen how he was raised... _I briefly look at Pansy.

"You are, aren't you?" Draco's hard demeanor slides off to reveal intense curiosity for a moment. "You do have 'the Sight' or whatever!"

I open my mouth to deny it, then nod. "Yeah, I do."

"I knew it," he murmurs triumphantly with a smirk. "I knew there had to be a reason Dumbledore brought you here."

I try hard to hide how hurt I feel that Dumbledore is now decidedly not the man I thought. I saw him before as my savior, the person who understood what happened to me in America, how I was treated, and took me away from that. But now he's just thinking about Harry Potter, isn't he? Making sure Voldemort doesn't come back to get him without us knowing? I follow the group to our next class with one of my Death Glare expressions, Hogwarts suddenly not the haven it was, Dumbledore suddenly not God.


	3. Hands

**Three:**

I let Pansy jabber on about Trelawny's craziness, pretending I'm paying attention while we walk to Transfiguration. Draco drifts to the other side of the group and doesn't look at me for the rest of the journey down those many flights of stairs.

Professor McGonagall welcomes me in a way much more standard than Professor Trewlawny. I sit between Pansy and Blaise at a table toward the back of the classroom.

"Draw your wands!" McGonagall says. She tells us to turn the teacups on our desks into toads.

I mutter the spell, waving my wand like McGonagall told us to at the teacup. Another electric shock pulses through my hand, and I shriek, dropping my wand.

"Is there a problem?" McGonagall asks, approaching our table.

"My hand felt like it was being electrified when I tried the spell," I explain quietly. McGonagall frowns thoughtfully, then takes my wand up off the table.

"Try again," she says. I reach for my wand. "_Without_ the wand."

I wave my hand inelegantly at the teacup, saying the spell. To my utmost shock, the teacup turns into a matchbox. The colors aren't exactly a toad theme (white with pink flowers, exactly like my teacup), but the shape is there.

"Interesting," McGonagall murmurs. "You don't need this wand... Keep practicing everyone! I will be back in a moment." She leaves the classroom door ajar when she exits.

Pansy sounds shocked. "You don't need a _wand_?" Blaise can only manage to stare in confusion.

"Apparently not…" I flinch as McGonagall reenters with Dumbledore at her side. "This _is_ rather interesting Minerva. Isabelle, please try to levitate this feather." Suddenly a long white feather is on my table. "The spell is _Wingardium Leviosa. _Move your hand in a sort of _swish and flick_ motion. It's a first year charm, I'm sure you'll do fine."

"_Wingardium Leviosa_," I mutter, _swish and flick_ing with my hand. The feather floats delicately up into the air. I feel the eyes of the entire class on me and my feather.

Dumbledore chuckles lightheartedly, smiling at the feather. "I suppose you won't need this anymore." He pockets my unneeded wand. I watch him scornfully for a moment, then turn back to my teacup/toad for the remainder of the period.

I groan unhappily when Pansy tells me that Potions class is next. _More stairs. Just what I wanted._ I trudge after Pansy all the way down to the dungeons, exhausted by the time we reach Snape's room. The table I follow Draco, Pansy and Blaise to is at the front of the room, this class the only one where Slytherins can get away with misbehaving. Apparently Professor Snape turns a blind eye whenever Slytherins do something they shouldn't, focusing on the other House- in this case, Hufflepuff- for flaws.

Nothing exciting happens in Potions. We all work on our Hiccuping Potions and chat amongst ourselves. Lunch is the next period, so we all trudge back up the stairs to the Great Hall. I tiredly eat my lunch, wishing I had slept as late as everyone else this morning. But lunchtime passes quickly, and soon I'm following Pansy and the rest of our group to Defense Against the Dark Arts. The toad-faced lady in the pink watches us with a fake smile from her desk at the head of the room. As soon as we are all seated, Professor Umbridge sends a stack of unappealing textbooks around the room. The _entire_ class is spent reading a chapter and discussing what we learned, and how it will help us on our Ordinary Wizarding Level exams at the end of the school year. A Gryffindor with bushy hair asks why we aren't using any defensive spells.

"_Using_ spells?" Umbridge asks with a sinister girlish giggle. "Well I can't see why you would need to!"

And then Harry Potter starts going off about how Voldemort is back to kill us all. Then-

"DETENTION, Mister Potter. My room, eight o'clock this evening." Umbridge looks even more frog-like when angered. I hear a familiar smirk down the row to my left. I don't need to strain my neck to see who it was.

"Only two classes left," Pansy remarks exhaustedly as we head to History of Magic. I literally doze as the ghost teacher drones on and on and on…. In Herbology, the final class of the day, we pick volatile pods off plants with funny names that I can't remember.

Supper is as sumptuous as the night before. I listen to everyone's chatter in the common room afterward, working on Divination homework. I have pretended to read half the textbook, and figured out everyone's names by the time Pansy calls me to head up to our dorm.

"Umbridge seemed a little…" I couldn't think of a word to describe her.

"I know! I mean, I hate Potter and all, but she was mental… Almost as barmy as Trelawny!" Pansy gets lost in thought, eyes wide. I smile at her British slang. _Who says things like 'barmy'?_

I try to do my DADA homework (an essay on the chapter we read _and_ discussed) once Pansy falls asleep, but Pansy's constant snoring makes it impossible for me to concentrate. I gather my things and exit the dorm, heading toward the common room stairs. Just as my foot is about to touch the second step-

_I scream through the gag, but no one hears me. The crazy-looking woman with the wild hair grips my shoulders, directing me out of the common room. Three black-clad men are waiting for us outside. _

I think I might be falling. My book, ink and quills slip out of my hands.

_ They force me up to the Astronomy Tower, tying my hands behind my back. I gasp, tears welling in my eyes, seeing Draco pointing his wand at Dumbledore._

My head smacks a stair, my arm twisted awkwardly beneath my body.

_ "Just do it, Draco! NOW!" The wild-haired woman shouts._

I black out once I reach the bottom of the staircase.


	4. Injuries

**Four:**

"What happened?" I hear footsteps and Pansy's voice.

"She passed out and fell down the stairs, cracked her head open." I am shocked to hear Draco's voice. I open my eyes slightly to see the ceiling of what can only be the hospital wing. "I found her in the common room and brought her here."

I try to sit up, hearing more footsteps, but Draco pushes me back down with a long-fingered hand.

"Madam Pomfrey asked me to keep you lying down," Draco explains in his reserved voice. I sigh frustratedly.

"When am I allowed to leave?"

"Not yet!" a new voice answers. The woman dressed like an old-fashioned nurse can only be Madam Pomfrey. She checks my temperature with a hand to my forehead.

"Fever?" Pansy asks. Madam Pomfrey shakes her head. "Oh… Well that's good, right? Can't she be released? She seems fine."

"Any pain?" Madam Pomfrey asks, gingerly touching different parts of my head.

"No," I lie, trying not to wince.

"Be positive before you release her," Draco murmurs. Madam Pomfrey pushes harder on my head. I whimper. Draco smirks victoriously. "I'll leave you to your healing." He smirks again, exiting the infirmary.

Madam Pomfrey doesn't release me from the hospital for two days, thanks to Draco pointing out the pain I easily could have handled on my own. _Stupid Malfoy_.

Pansy hugs me when I enter the Great Hall at suppertime. "I can't believe she kept you for _two days!_"

"No thanks to Draco," I mutter bitterly, glaring at the Blonde Boy. He just smirks, not even looking at me, but clearly listening. I glare.

"C'mon, eat something," Pansy suggests. I shake my head.

"I'm going to head down to the common room. I'll see you later." I exit the Great Hall and start on my way down to the dungeons. On the third flight of stairs I climb down I hear footsteps behind me. I turn around to see Draco Malfoy. He doesn't look at me, but walks straight through an extension of the rough stone walls. I follow without thinking, hoping to find him going to a secret satanic cult or something. But I lose him as soon as he turns the corner at the end of the hall. I speed up, but see nothing when I follow him around the corner. Not only do I not see Draco, but I don't even see where he exited the tunnel. I run my hands along the stone wall dead end, but I find no fake spot that I can walk through.

"Draco?" I call quietly, not really wanting his help. I call his name again, full volume. "Draco how do I get out of here?"

Silence.

"Hello?" I shout.

Malfoy's head suddenly appears in the wall. He enters the passageway with a smirk.

"Can't get out, hm?" He asks. I nod, blushing bright red. I follow Draco out with my head hanging. But my head looks sharply upward when we walk out right in front of the Slytherin common room. _A shortcut!_

Draco suddenly chuckles, rather nastily.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Well, this is the second time I've save your ass this week." He smirks, grey eyes malevolent.

"I would've gotten out of there sooner or later, and I could've gotten myself to the hospital wing just fine, thank you very much!" I retort, frowning.

Draco just smirks again. "Whatever you say, Isabelle."

I plop down in an armchair with my back facing Draco as soon as we enter the common room. He snickers evilly again, sitting in the chair facing mine.

"Can you _please_ just leave me alone?"

"Are you _sure_ that's what you want?"

"YES! I have tons of homework to do since I've been in the hospital wing for _two_ days because _you _told Madam Pomfrey that I was in pain when I could've handled that pain just fine on my own and-"

_ "I am finished," the snake-man says. "Take her away."_

I feel myself collapse onto the floor, head at Draco's feet.

_Another man dressed in black starts hauling me out of the room. I see tears in Draco's eyes._

"Isabelle?"

_He throws me down a long flight of stairs into a dark, dank cellar. I run my hands over myself, checking for broken bones. A small scream escapes my mouth as I push against a cracked rib._

I groan in pain, gripping the edge of the coffee table.

"Are you alright?" Draco sounds genuinely concerned.

"I'm...f-fine," I gasp out, everything in front of me blurry.

"No, you clearly are not. Back to the infirmary." Draco takes my arm, attempting to help me up.

"NO!" I squirm out of Draco's grasp. "I'm fine. No-" _Ooh my head! _"-hospital."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm just-" _Ow. _"-gonna go get some sleep. In my dorm."

I slowly climb the stairs, gripping the railing in one hand and my head in the other. Once I reach my dorm, I let a few tears drip from my eyes. Migraine doesn't begin to name the pain throbbing through every part of my skull. I pull off my shoes, over-robe and tie, sitting down on the edge of my bed. As soon as my head sinks into my super fluffy pillow, I pass out.


	5. Love

**Five:**

I wake in the middle of the night, my white blouse and green skirt twisted uncomfortable around me. I pull both of them off and toss them on the floor, crawling to the end of my bed and rummaging through my trunk for a T-shirt. Eventually I find one of my Slytherin shirts and pull it on, climbing back underneath my warm covers. I am so worn out from the day that I manage to sleep through Pansy's snoring.

The next day being Saturday, I have enough time to sleep my fill. When I do finally open my eyes, Pansy has already up and left. I relish in the silence of the lack of snoring until I it up and see the big pile of make-up homework waiting for me. _Ahh, this weekend should be fun. Nice and relaxing. _I dress myself quickly and head down to the Great Hall for a late breakfast. The only classmates I can find are Draco and Blaise, so I seat myself across the table from them.

"Hello…" I say, covering a yawn with my hand.

"Hi," Draco answers quietly, not taking his eyes off the newspaper, _The Daily Propet_. I watch the black and white pictures move, slowly eating my breakfast, fascinated.

"You're so amazed by the moving photographs," Blaise remarks with a chuckle.

"Well weren't you in awe when you first discovered magic?"

"I am a Pureblood wizard. I was introduced to magic at birth. I never _discovered _it." Blaise scoffs. Draco looks up.

"A Pureblood is a wizard with completely magical blood. A half-blood is half Muggle. And then a wizard from a Muggle family-"

"Don't," I hear Draco say quietly. Blaise goes on as if nothing happened.

"-is a Mudblood, like you."

I hear a few boys snickering around me. I frown, not understanding.

"Don't. Blaise don't you call her that." Draco's angry voice makes me jump.

"You were always quick to call Granger one!" Blaise retorts.

"She's a Gryffindor and Potter's friend. But a fellow Slytherin?" Draco stalks out of the Great Hall, leaving his newspaper behind. I scurry after him, bewildered.

"What was _that_ all about?" I ask, struggling to match his pace.

"He called you a Mudblood, Isabelle! That means 'dirty blood'. Its a foul name to call someone... Just because your parents are Muggles... And I- I was raised to think the same of Muggle borns! But after meeting you, I-" Draco cuts off, looking away from me.

"You what?"

"I...I just think differently of Muggle-borns now."

"Why...? What do you mean?"

Draco stops walking, turns, and leads me into a nearby secret room.

"Isabelle, I have known you for four days, and already I know I have never felt like this about anyone else before."

I just blink.

"I think I am in love with you," Draco murmurs, unable to look me in the eye.

I don't know how to answer. All I can manage to do is stutter stupidly. Draco interrupts me.

"I understand. Never mind. Forget I said anything." Draco walks away and is gone before I can even think about stopping him. I feel panicky, running both hands through my thick brown hair. I want to apologize to Draco and share my own feelings, but I don't know just what those feelings are.

In an attempt to get my mind off Draco, I bring all my homework down to the common room. I take my time spreading out my materials on a table, trying to kill time. Eventually I sit down at the table, dipping a feather quill in ink, ready to start my Potions assignment. The essay is finished in under an hour. I dry the ink with a spell, roll up the parchment, and toss the finished essay to the opposite end of the table History of Magic is next. I read the assignment Pansy scrawled down for me, grumbling to myself at the sixteen inch minimum.

"Oh lord," I mutter to myself, unable to think of anything to write about. I reread the chapter in my History of Magic book, but am still uninspired. Tossing the assignment aside, I finish all the rest of my homework (all of it!) trying to think of something to write about. Still stuck, I stretch my legs, walking up to my dorm. Pansy is stretched out on her bed, flipping through a brightly-colored wizard magazine.

"Pansy can you _please_ help me with my History of Magic essay?"

"Ask Draco," Pansy replies with a yawn. "He practically did mine for me."

"Er... I'm not sure he's really willing to speak to me right now..."

"Really? What happened? Pansy sounds genuinely interested, looking up from the magazine.

"Pansy, he told me he's in love with me," I answer, sitting on her bed.

Pansy gasps. "Woah... So you two are going out now?"

"No... I didn't say I love him back... I didn't give him an answer at all."

"Oh..."

"I just don't know how I feel about him yet."

"Right. Well, I hope you figure it out soon and I hope you give him a yes. You two would be perfect together." With that, Pansy goes back to her magazine. I plod back down to the common room with no help for my essay. Sitting at the table, I rock back and forth on the the legs of my chair, staring up at the ceiling. When I do finally look at my empty parchment, I discover that it isn't empty anymore! I peer at the writing, and see that someone has jotted down a topic sentence for my History of Magic essay. It is signed:

_Love, _

_ D_

I sigh guiltily. _How can he be so nice to me? _

Thanks to Draco, I got all my homework done. Pansy comes down to the common room and asks if I want to join her for supper just as I'm finishing the final sentence on the essay. We walk down to the Great Hall together. I seat myself beside Draco without even meaning too.

"Hi," Draco says quietly to me. I smile slightly back.

"Thank you so much for helping me with my essay."

"Sure," Draco answers.

And that is the extent of our conversation. Neither of us can think of anything else to say, so we talk to the others around us, and never to each other.

Weeks pass like this. Draco and I never have a real conversation, though there are some times that I can feel his eyes on me during class. Pansy reproaches me whenever possible for not telling Draco I love him back and going out with him. I just sigh every time and tell her I don't love him.

At least, I don't _think_ I do...

Days are soon weeks, weeks soon months, and it is Christmas break before I know it.

Pansy has gone home to her family, so I have the dorm to myself. Stretching out on my bed, the day before Christmas Eve, I hear a knock on the door. I answer.

"Hello," Draco says, smiling slightly. "Care to walk to Hogsmeade with me?"

"I…can't. I don't have parent permission to go there… Sorry." I start to close my door, but Draco stops me.

"Then just a stroll around the grounds? Please?" His grey eyes are so desperate. I nod.

I find myself in want of gloves and a hat once we are out in the bitter, snowy weather. I rub my arms rapidly, my breath white against the cold air. Draco takes his Slytherin scarf off and winds it around my neck. I feel his fingers brush against my neck as he gently pulls my hair from under the scarf.

"Thank you," I whisper, looking up at Draco. I realize for the first time just how much taller he is compared to me, and just how beautiful his grey eyes really are.

"You're welcome."

We walk in silence for a time, until my teeth start to chatter.

"Maybe we should head inside now," Draco suggests kindly. The only sign that he is cold at all is a touch of color on his cheeks and nose. I follow him back into the castle.

Draco stays silent on the way back down to the common room. Halfway there, he stops me, directing me into a secret passageway/shortcut. He doesn't keep walking. I watch him.

"I don't want to go on like this. Not talking, I mean." Draco steps close to me.

"W-we're talking, a-aren't-t we?"

Draco gives me one of his classic smirks. "I suppose we are. B-but maybe we don't want to be…"

"What do you mean?" My voice shakes, though I'm not frightened.

Draco's grey eyes get closer and closer, until mine flutter closed. I feel his breath on my lips, then his lips on mine.


	6. Muggle Born

**Six:**

"I guess I've decided to not take no for an answer," Draco tells me, his face still only millimeters from mine. He smiles a little.

"I never gave you a no!" I answer quietly, but indignantly. "But I suppose never a yes, either…"

Draco just smiles, clearly pleased with himself for kissing me. "So will you go out with me or not?"

"Okay."

"Thank you." Draco plants another gentle kiss on my mouth. I just smile dreamily back when he pulls away. "Back to the common room, then?"

"Yes."

I retreat to bed late that night, after one more kiss from Draco. Still tasting Draco on my lips, I crawl into bed. The wind whips around outside, and I sleep soundly to the noise, until-

_"You are a Mudblood, Isabelle!" Umbridge shouts. "And _I_ am Headmistress now, therefore I do have the right to transfer you out of the Slytherin House! Salazar Slytherin would not have wanted _your_ kind in his House!"_

_ "You can't do that! That isn't fair to anyone! I have friends there, and a schedule that I've been following for months, a-and…" There really is no good reason except- "And that's just a stupid thing to do!"_

_ "Fine. If you refuse to be transferred, then you are hereby expelled from Hogwarts."_

_ "For being a Muggle-born? I can't help how I was born!"_

_ Umbridge just smirks._

I wake in my bed, wrenching myself upright, heart pounding so fast it might explode. The thought that Umbridge might really become Headmistress and throw me out of the school makes me breathe heavily. Shaking, I pull my blankets aside, needing to stand. I walk unsteadily down to the common room, where- I breathe a sigh of relief- Draco is passed out on the couch. Without even thinking about it, I curl up beside him underneath the blanket. I inhale Draco's scent off his sleeve. Feeling safe next to his sleeping body, I doze off.

Draco and I wake at about the same time.

"When did you get here?" he asks sleepily, stretching his arms upward, then letting them fall back around me.

"Middle of the night…" I reply, sounding just as drowsy.

"Mmm…"

"Tomorrow's Christmas..."

"Yes it is..."

We both yawn, which makes us both chuckle.

"So what do you want me to get you for Christmas?" Draco asks, sitting up.

"Don't get me anything, really," I answer, sitting up beside him. "I can't afford to get you anything back… I have _no_ money."

"You've already given me something," Draco answers, kissing my forehead. "I'll see you later."

"Okay…" I feel lonely as I watch Draco exit. He doesn't come back, so my day is spent reading and napping in the common room.

I go to bed early, wishing I could have seen Draco one more time. I have the same vision/dream of Umbridge expelling me, but this time no Draco in the common room to run to.

I wake tiredly and do not want to get out of my comfy bed. I hear someone knock, then see Draco answer, a square box in his hands.

"Happy Christmas," Draco says with a quiet smile, holding up the box.

"No! No presents…"

"Tough." He sits on my bed and places the heavy box on my lap. I open it with a sigh, and pull out an ornate crystal ball. As soon as my fingers touch the glass, light lavender smoke swirls around inside.

"I know you saw something in the crystal ball on your first day in Divination," Draco says. "I thought I might give you a chance to see something else. I-it might be useful, right…?" I see a touch of color flush his pale face.

"It's beautiful. Thank you." I kiss Draco's cheek gently.

My horrible dream of Umbridge becoming Headmistress comes true a little while after Christmas. The rumor is Dumbledore disappeared to escape Azkaban because Harry Potter started a wizard army under Dumbledore's name. I find myself clinging to Draco whenever Umbridge comes near, fearing she might bring me to her office to expel me.

Tensely clutching Draco's arm, as usual, in the common room one evening, a nervous-looking first year approaches me. She hands me a small scroll tied with a pink ribbon. Dread making me feel sick, I unroll the paper.

_Miss Isabelle-_

_ Come to my office as soon as you receive this note._

_ Professor Dolores Umbridge, Headmistress and High Inquisitor of Hogwarts_

"I'm going to be expelled," I tell Draco in a shaking whisper.

"What?"

I pull Draco to a private spot behind the stairs to the girls' dorms, and hurriedly tell him about my vision. Promising Draco I won't leave the school when she tells me to, I head to Umbridge's office.

"Hello, Isabelle."

"Professor," I greet her back icily.

"Isabelle, I understand that you were Sorted into Slytherin, yet you are a Mudblood. I believe that Salazar Slytherin, founder, would not have wanted you in his House. I have decided to transfer you into Hufflepuff. People like your kind are accepted there."

"No."

Umbridge gets angry much too quickly, clearly very on-edge.

_"_You are a Mudblood, Isabelle!" Umbridge shouts. "And I am Headmistress now, therefore I do have the right to transfer you out of the Slytherin House! Salazar Slytherin would not have wanted your kind in his House!"

"That's just a stupid thing to do." I don't get as freaked out as I did in my vision, but I get the message through. The future isn't set in stone, right?

"Fine. If you refuse to be transferred, then you are hereby expelled from Hogwarts."

"For being a Muggle-born? I can't help how I was born!"

Umbridge just smirks. "But you _can_ help what you _do_. And I am not going to let you ruin the life of the son of a friend and colleague."

"… Huh?"

"Draco Malfoy is the heir of the Malfoy fortune, and he should not be publicly associated with someone like you!"

"So this is all about my boyfriend? Nothing to do with Voldemort at all?"

"YOU-KNOW-WHO IS NOT BACK!"

"Right…"

Umbridge gives me a death glare. "Pack your things. An escort will be waiting for you outside the Slytherin common room in ten minutes."

I sprint back to Draco. I figured I would still feel calm and collected after Umbridge's official expulsion, but I still feel panicky. Dumbledore is gone and she _can_ send me back to America.

"What happened?" He asks, jumping off the couch.

"I was expelled. I…I…" I can't get my mind to work. _Think of a plan, damn it. Come on!_

"What can I do?" Draco asks kindly, wrapping an arm around me.

"U-um…" I blink tears out of my eyes. "Th-there's a-an esc-cort of some sort c-coming to get me. I-in ten minutes…"

"Okay. Go pack your trunk. I have a plan." I feel Draco's lips briefly touch mine, making me even more lightheaded and incapable. Like a soldier under orders, I obediently pack my things and allow myself to be lead out of Hogwarts by a Ministry of Magic escort. The man leaves me and my things on the road in-between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. I set my trunk in the still-damp-from-snow ground and sit on it.

An envelope suddenly falls from the heavens. I hear an owl hooting as I tear open the letter. I breathe a sigh of relief at seeing Draco's handwriting.

_Stay in Hogsmeade until the next time students are allowed to come. Madam Rosmerta of the Three Broomsticks will hide you until I can sneak you back into the castle._

_ Love,_

_ D_


	7. Prince Charming

**Seven:**

Though both students and staff ignore Umbridge's title of Headmistress, I can tell from Hogsmeade that she does have _some_ authority over the school. Hogsmeade is completely empty of anyone at all from Hogwarts. Even Harry Potter and his rogue 'army' don't show up at the Three Broomsticks. I find myself staring longingly out the window more often than not, desperately hoping Draco will come soon. My life is starting to look like a fairytale: I am the damsel in distress, Draco is my handsome prince, and Umbridge is, of course, the horrific monster keeping us apart.

My prince charming doesn't come for me until three weeks have passed. A huge crowd of students bursts into the Three Broomsticks while I am helping Madam Rosmerta wash dishes. A pair of strong arms hugs me from behind, kissing the back of my head, just as I am despairing in my search for Draco. I laugh, turning around to hug him tight.

"I missed you," he murmurs in my ear.

"I missed you too." My voice is muffled by Draco's shoulder. Eventually I manage to pull myself out of our embrace, and cram myself next to Draco in a crowded booth full of Slytherins. They all laugh and talk and shout, but I don't hear them, and I don't think Draco does either. My mind is held in his silvery-grey gaze, and my body is held in his arms. The usual electric shock in my head when he kisses me makes all the noise fade away.

I go to Professor Dumbledore's when I am summoned, just a few days before the summer holiday begins.

"You asked to see me, sir?"

"I did." Dumbledore indicates that I sit, and I do so. "I just wanted to say that I have no intention of sending you back to your old life in America."

I let out a visible sigh of relief.

"You will be living with your legal parents in the same house, but a wizard family will be living nearby and is going to be in charge of making sure you have everything you want. I also believe their son will be a suitable companion."

"What is the name of the family?"

"The Malfoys."

_The Malfoys._


	8. July

**Eight:**

I watch one of Draco's long, pale fingers trace spiral patterns on my bare thigh, the rest of him completely absorbed in deep, melancholy thought. I open my mouth, wanting to say something, but I know he doesn't want to hear another apology concerning his father's imprisonment. Instead I kiss his cheek, give his hand a gentle squeeze, and turn back to my book. Draco sighs, shifting his position, but his brooding eyes don't change. I sigh too, moving to lay on my back beside him. I watch the grass and wildflowers all around us sway in the gentle breeze.

When the sky starts to dim into evening, Draco takes my hand and leads me out of the meadow.

"Why don't you eat at my house tonight?" Draco suggests quietly, directing me to his sizable summer home just through the woods from my house.

When we enter the beautiful blue house, we find Narcissa in the kitchen, watching supper make itself. Draco and I both thank her quietly as she hands us each a plate of food over the counter. I follow Draco out of the kitchen to the dining room. I am about to sit down when Draco murmurs for me to follow him, we aren't eating here. I follow him obediently, glancing back at the dining room where Narcissa is sitting down to eat alone.

Draco leads me to the screen porch and sits on the wicker couch, setting his dinner on the coffee table by his knees. He starts eating his food in tiny bites as I sit in the chair opposite him. The silence of our meal weighs heavy on my heart, and I blink rapidly, hoping my tears escape Draco's notice.

They don't.

"Why are you crying?" Draco asks, reaching over the table to rest his hand on mine.

"I'm not."

"You were about to," Draco says knowingly. I've known him for under a year, and already he can recognize all of my idiosyncrasies (like how I blink a lot when I'm upset, tears or no tears).

"I'm fine. Promise."

"Alright." Draco turns back to his food.

Of course the food is delicious, but it tastes like paper in my mouth with all the other things on my mind. I put my fork down long before half of my food is eaten. Draco glances up when he hears the clatter of metal on china, and when I see worry creep into his eyes, I force more paper food down my throat.

After supper with Draco, I walk myself back to spend an evening alone- my first time alone in at least a week. I rub my aching temples, leaning against the door of my bedroom. I pull out all my favorite books, stack them up beside me, and bury my mind in them. My plan is effective; I manage to not think about Draco's brooding, or the way he left Narcissa to eat alone, until my eyes are so tired all I can do is sleep.

All my dreams seem to involve snakes of some sort. There are snakes in graveyards, snakes slithering toward me on cold stone floors, snakes coming out of skulls' mouths. My skin is crawling when I wake; I realize how much I hate the leg-less creatures, despite my House at Hogwarts.

As I am stretching my arms up and yawning-

_Draco starts screaming. His scream raises an octave as Voldemort touches his wand to Draco's left forearm. The black Dark Mark materializes on his swelling, reddening skin._

I shudder, tears pricking in my eyes. Throwing my blankets aside, I climb out the window and slide down the tree. (Avoiding my parents is what I do best.) I sprint through the woods to the Malfoy's property. Trying to calm my steadily racing heart, I slow my pace as I approach the house. I do my best to keep my knocking on the front door from becoming pounding.

No one answers.

I pound on the door, screaming Draco's name. Finally it opens, showing the small, strange creature that opened it.

"Master Draco and Mistress Narcissa asked Rono to give this to you," he tells me in a squeaky voice. Rono hands me an envelope with my name on it. I tear it open with zero hesitation:

_Isabelle-_

_We have had to go back to England for a short time. Don't worry if we are not back before tomorrow. Sleep anywhere you want in this house tonight. Rono the house-elf will tend to you._

_ Love,_

_ D_

I shove the letter into my pocket, trying to calm my erratic heart.

"I am Rono, house-elf for the Malfoys. Master Draco told me to tend to you. Is there anything you would like now? Breakfast?"

"Breakfast? No… No food. I don't need anything."

My stomach churns the whole day through, my head making me dizzy whenever I stand. I sit in the small library in Draco's house, politely asking the books to read themselves to me. I try hard to once again lose myself in the stories of other worlds, but somehow I just cannot manage it. The thought of the pain Draco must be in, and the inevitable future ahead, brings tears to my eyes, and sobs to my throat.


	9. Branded

**Nine: **

When I start having trouble keeping my eyes open, I trudge up to Draco's bedroom. I crawl under his bed's thick blue-green blankets. I immediately feel lulled by the familiar, comforting scent the blankets have: the indescribable scent of Draco.

I don't fully sleep, just doze, waiting for a sound- _any_ sound- to tell me that Draco and his mother have returned. The house is eerily silent until well after midnight, when I hear the front door creak open and footsteps approaching the bedroom door. I wrench myself up as light from the hall floods into the bedroom. Draco staggers in, gripping his left wrist, grimacing. I breathe his name, rushing out of his way as he collapses on the bed.

"A-are you alright? C-can I h-help you?" I ask nervously, gently placing a hand on Draco's shoulder. He takes a shuddery breath and sits up beside me. His eyes are bloodshot with dark shadows beneath them. "Are you okay?"

Draco still doesn't say anything, just looks down at his arm. I carefully remove his hand from his wrist, stretching out his arm to see what Voldemort has done. A black symbol of a skull with a snake coiling out of its mouth has been branded to the pale skin of Draco's forearm.

"I-i'm re-replacing my f-father," Draco chokes out in a hoarse whisper. "H-he gave me a mission."

I don't say a word. All I do is pull Draco into a hug and try to keep the tears from spilling out of my eyes.

End.

For now... Look out for the sequel to my little story: A Darkness Flooded in Light.


End file.
